Temptations of the Fox
by Flickering Ember
Summary: Emberbone, a strange cat that was raised by a fox family, decides to join ThunderClan. But he doesn't really care if he gets exiled or not. Now, there's a big problem- he's caught something strange, something that hasn't been seen since the time of Thornclaw. And Emberbone's not happy when he discovers its effects. Not happy at all.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, one of you has to have read '_Temptations of an Uninterested Single Tom_', right? I hope so, because this is sort of like a continuation of that story. Turns out that that wasn't the last of Temptations Essence that the Clans will see. The darn plant had already left a seed, and it's going to cause problems for poor old Emberbone.**

Temptations of the Fox

Chapter 1

Joining a Clan

Emberbone's tail flicked in the afternoon light, his attention focused entirely on the meaty mouse in front of him. Its nose twitched as it ate the seed, attempting to keep a watch out for predators as it stuffed its adorable, edible, face.

_You're all mine, little mousy..._ He took a step forward. The mouse stiffened. Relaxed. Take another step. Stiffen. Relax. Another step. Relax. Pounce!

He landed squarely on his prey, about to deliver the death-blow...

"Stop right there, thief!" Some idiot shouted. Emberbone jumped, letting go of the mouse.

"Badger fur!" He hissed, turning to face whoever had interrupted his hunt. A tortoiseshell she-cat with expressive silver eyes.

"I almost had that mouse! Why'd you yell?" He snapped, glaring angrily.

"That's ThunderClan prey, you stinking rogue!" The tortoiseshell snapped, just as quickly.

"Rogue? I'm no rogue!" Emberbone huffed, now offended. "I'm a loner."

"Loner, rogue, whatever. Just get going, thief!" She bared her teeth, eyes narrowing threateningly. He scowled, but turned away, running towards the boundary.

_Stupid she-cat! I almost had that mouse! Just one more heartbeat..._ He silently fumed, slowing just outside the border. Emberbone took a deep breath, continuing forward.

_Not that she actually screwed me over too badly. I can catch another one._ The logical part of him reasoned. It was true, he could certainly catch another one, and, if not, there were plenty of nests around here. He could get an egg or two. Emberbone sighed, pausing in his walking to scent the air. Fox, not too old. Probably came by here about an hour or so ago. That must've been Bendiks- that fox was always hungry. And was usually successful at hunting. Emberbone shook his head, resuming his walking. A river went on its quiet way, murmuring to the trees softly as it wound through the wood. He twisted, turning to the friendly waters. The wind danced by, playing with the leaves.

_You can't catch anything! _It sang. _Not a mouse, not a bird, not a wing!_

Emberbone lowered his ears, viciously shaking his head to clear it. The wind was _not_ saying anything. He must've been hungrier than he thought, if he was hearing things. Then again, when was the last time he had eaten?... Yesterday morning. That was it. He had the robin eggs. That mouse had been the one of the few successful hunts, only to be ruined. And leaf-bare was right around the corner. After the next moon, the snow would come, and he'd have to starve through another cold season. He sighed, staring down at the gently flowing waters. Fish flashed silver under the moving glass surface.

Emberbone's paw flashed, returning with a fat, squirming, river fish. He bit its neck, killing it, then tore into it, enjoying the fatty meat. It was quickly finished, leaving him feeling full. Emberbone licked his lips, looking into the river again. His fur looked like it had been in its own mini-typhoon! No wonder the clanner had mistaken him for a rogue! He started grooming himself, smoothing down the fur and removing the burrs that had gathered over the days. He kept at it for a long while, nodding in satisfaction once his fur was as soft as a kit's. The white tip of his tail glowed like snow against the orange, yellow, and red of leaf-fall. The orange of his pelt blended in, just until he moved into sunlight. Then it glowed like fire. The black of his paws looked like a coating of coal dust. He looked into the river again. A fox, complete with amber eyes stared coolly back at him. Perfect. He picked up the fish and dropped it into the river, watching as others of the same kind ate off the scraps, leaving white ivory behind.

"Cannibals." He whispered in disgust. Emberbone yawned, now tired. It was sun-down. He lay down, crossing his front paws and resting his head on them. His eyes drifted closed, and he fell asleep, the river murmuring soft nothings in his ears.

Emberbone didn't open his eyes. It was dawn, he already knew that. But someone was staring at him, and he didn't appreciate it. At all. He shifted, freeing both paws, then swiped, much like when he had caught the fish. A sharp yelp, and slight resistance, showed that he had connected with whoever had been staring at him. It wasn't Bendiks- the fox knew better. Emberbone's eyes snapped open, already glaring. It was the tortie from yesterday.

"Ouch!" She whimpered, gently touching her tail to the scratch mark across her muzzle. He shot into a sitting position, still glaring.

"What was that for?" She asked accusingly, voice muffled by her tail.

"I'm not in Clan territory." He growled, ignoring the question. The river still chuckled to itself, just in front of him. "And neither are you. Care to explain?"

"Uh... Well, you see..." She stammered, searching for an explanation. "It's none of your business."

"You were staring at me, probably for a while. It is my business. So, unless you plan on telling me, you'd best get going." His voice took on a sharp edge.

"I was curious as to how a fox could speak cat." She admitted, albeit reluctantly.

"Oh good grief..." Emberbone groaned, his head falling backwards, to the point where his muzzle was facing the sky. "Not another one..."

"What?" She asked, looking at him intently.

"I'm not a fox. I'm a cat." He got up, now glaring at her, akin to how he was yesterday. "Now go home!" His claws slipped out, black as the starless sky. She did leave, running, not unlike him. _The irony of that..._ He mentally chuckled, reminiscing yesterday. He was a bit disturbed that a cat would follow him simply out of curiosity, but shrugged it aside, focusing on hunting. Emberbone turned towards the river, looking down at the moving glass surface once more, poised to catch a fish. His paw flashed, returning with a fish. It wasn't as fat as yesterday's, but it was still pretty thick. He pressed down on its neck, snapping the spine, and bent down to eat. When a bush rustled. Someone was still watching him. And the disturbing feeling returned.

"I know you're there. You might as well come out." He called, listening. The bush behind him rustled again, which was followed by soft pawsteps. He turned around. The tortie. Emberbone sighed, his appetite suddenly gone.

"Why are you still here?" He asked, sliding the fish towards her. She gave him a curious glance regarding the fish, but quickly looked back down.

"Well-"

"You know what, I don't really want to know. Just get out of here before I hurt you." His claws slid out. "Take the fish with you." She grabbed the fish and scampered away, leaving a path of quivering bushes. Emberbone glanced back into the river. A confused fox was reflected back at him. A small smile appeared on his face. As much as he hated it when a clanner said that he was a fox speaking cat, he usually took being called a fox, in a general term, as a compliment. He shook off his thoughts, appetite returning. With yet another splash, he caught a third fish, killed it, and dug in. It was about the same size as the second, and filled him up. Once more, he threw the carcass into the river, grimacing as it was swarmed and eaten. He stretched, listening with satisfaction to the sound of his joints popping.

Feeling a less tense, he trotted back into the wood. He'd go see Bendiks. The fox was always up for a bit of tussling. The winds started up again, dancing through the leaves and playing with his soft fur.

The wind laughed, taunting with insults that only he could hear.

"I am going insane." He growled to no one, ears flattening against his skull. The smell of fish drifted towards him, from the... east? No. North-east. He twisted around, looking at the northeast.

"Who's there?" He asked, but he could guess. It was probably the tortie. Was she a stalker or something? It seemed that way.

A resigned sigh floated from a bush, and, unsurprisingly, the tortie stepped out.

"Are you stalking me?" He asked bluntly, sitting.

"No!" She immediately replied, indignant.

"Then why are you following me? If you've no reason, just leave me alone."

"Well, you see... ThunderClan's warriors are dying, and we need more warriors. I was wondering if you would be willing to join." He raised an eyebrow, listening.

"Is it a disease, wounds, or are you in a war?" Emberbone asked, his fluffy tail wrapping around his paws.

"Green cough. It's gone now, but..."

"But the damage was extreme." He finished. Then shrugged. It had been a long time since he had been in a Clan. "Sure. I'll join."

"Really? Great!" She visibly cheered, and Emberbone guessed that she was probably only recently made a warrior. "I'm Specklepaw."

_Oh. She's an apprentice._ Emberbone blinked, kind of surprised, but got up.

"Lead the way, Specklepaw."

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

"Emberbone." He replied casually.

After that, she stopped asking questions, turning towards the general direction of the ThunderClan border. Emberbone followed silently, watching the woods.

The scent markers stuck out like a rotten carcass. Emberbone shook off the instinct to move stealthily, following Specklepaw as she continued forward calmly. The river wound into view, creeping beside them while whispering sweet nothings. Specklepaw continued to move straight, and eventually, almost as though it was bored, the river broke away from their route.

And the camp came into view. Brambles, once naturally growing, formed an uneven shape, protecting what lay inside. The brambles arched unnaturally, forming a gap that served to let cats in. Specklepaw easily walked in, but Emberbone paused outside, silently debating.

_It's like a cage..._

_**It's just a bunch of brambles! I could get out easily!**_

_But there'll be others watching._

_**Not that they'll mind if I leave.**_

He walked in, determined.

**So, what do you think? Good? Bad? Stop the story right now because it's too bad to read? C'mon, you can be honest! Just don't flame. I'll use flames to burn the bad pages of this book. And there are a lot of those. By the way, I'll try to answer any questions concerning certain plot points.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

What's this plant?

And almost ran back out. Many eyes turned to him, many curious, wary, and intimidating pairs of eyes. Specklepaw was just to the left of him, looking very worried. One of the cats from the crowd pushed forward, his gaze level, but his movements saying that he was ready to chase him away.

"Specklepaw, who is this?" The cat was a light creamy color, with silver-grey blotching his pelt randomly, complementing the stormy blue eyes. A second cat stepped forward, this time a dark gold tabby with hard silver eyes. Specklepaw tensed as the second cat stepped forward, but answered.

"This i-is Emberbone. He wants to join." The apprentice squeaked, seeming tiny in the cream/silver-grey tom's appraising look. The tom nodded.

"Alright. Your mentor would like to have a word with you." She slinked away, towards the tabby.

The tom looked at him sharply; "You may stay here, so long as you do not harm the Clan, intentionally or not. You'll be chased from the territory, understood?"

"Yes, sir." Emberbone replied, nodding. The cat looked on approvingly.

"Good. Rivermist will give you a tour of the camp and the territory, and will answer any questions you have. You'll be sleeping in the Warriors' Den, after Yarrowheart, our medicine cat, gives you a check-up. You'll have to learn who's who on your own- I'm Silverstar, by the way." With that, Silverstar walked away, waving his tail. The crowd dispersed, going their separate ways.

A light blue she-cat walked up to him, with leaf-green eyes looking at him curiously. She simply studied him for a moment, then proceeded to introduce herself.

"I'm Rivermist. I assume that Silverstar assigned me to be your tour guide?" She said warmly.

"Yeah. I'm Emberbone." She looked at him a bit more intently.

"Have I seen you before?"

"No, not that I know of." Emberbone instantly replied, just now recognizing her face. She had caught him once while he was fishing, a fat fish in his paw.

"If you say so. This is the ThunderClan camp." She shrugged, then promptly started the tour. A pile of rocks served as both the place where the leader made his announcements, and the leader's sleeping quarters. An easy to defend den was the nursery, a fairly large, uneven den was the Warriors' Den, but there were disturbingly few nests, a second, smaller, den served as the Apprentices' Den, where Specklepaw was getting chewed out, a hallow tree between the Warriors' Den and the Nursery provided shelter for the elders, and a second rotting tree was the Medicine Den. While they were there, Yarrowheart gave him the once-over and decided he was fine.

"And that's our camp. I'll give you a tour of the territory tomorrow, once you've introduced yourself to more of the cats. Just... Avoid the Elder's Den. Blueveil's been really grumpy lately." She warned, then waved her tail in goodbye, walking to the fresh-kill pile.

Emberbone looked around, still full from the fish. Seeing as all the cats were shooting him funny looks, he shrugged and sat in a corner of the camp, simply lying there, watching daily clan life. One of the cats, a spiky sandy-tan tom with copper eyes, walked up to him, staring curiously. He just stared, not saying a word, and after about ten minutes, Emberbone finally said something.

"Can I help you?" He asked, exasperation tingeing his voice.

"No, no, I'm fine." The tom replied, then resumed his silent staring.

"Than do you have something to do?"

"No, not a thing."

"Than can you please not stare at me."

"Does it bother you?" The cat asked. "Sorry."

"It bothers me when you sit there and stare without saying a word, acting like I haven't noticed."

"Sorry." The tom said again. "I'm Sandstep."

"I'm Emberbone." He replied, sitting up.

"Can I ask you something~ besides this question?"

"Sure."

"Well, I was wondering- why'd you decide to join? You don't seem desperate, and you certainly don't seem hungry."

"Specklepaw told me that your Clan had been weakened by White cough and I decided to join." He replied calmly. "But if you're going to get mad at the apprentice for admitting a weakness, don't. It's not like I could use it against you."

"You don't look smart enough to think like that."

"I'm smarter than I look." Emberbone replied dryly.

With that, the conversation degenerated into gossip, until Sandstep brought up the topic of him joining again.

"I've gotta wonder though, why'd Specklepaw decide to ask if you wanted to join? She's usually so rude to strangers." Sandstep mused, now lying beside Emberbone while they chatted.

"She certainly was the first time she saw me." He replied. "Then she..."

"She did what?" Sandstep asked, his eyes sparkling. "Don't leave me hanging!"

"Specklepaw sorta... followed... me." Emberbone said slowly, looking at the ground thoughtfully. Sandstep stared at him for a minute, then burst out laughing.

"She's... stalking you?! Oh, that is rich! And it explains why she was gone for two days." Sandstep laughed, drawing attention.

"Hey, keep it down, would you?" Emberbone hissed. The laughter subsided into a giggle, then into nothing.

"Sorry, sorry. She just has the tendency to follow cats that she likes a lot."

"That's not creepy at all..." Emberbone murmured.

"She used to spy on me too. Then I shot her down, poor girl." Sandstep sighed heavily, still smirking from his laughing fit.

"You shot her down? That's cold." Emberbone replied, rolling his eyes. He wasn't sure whether or not to believe Sandstep or not.

"I had to! Specklepaw was starting to creep me out..."

"I can understand that." Emberbone replied, stifling a yawn. How long had they been talking? It was already dusk! Sandstep just happened to notice this at the same time he did.

"Look at the time!" Sandstep yelped, jumping to his paws. "I almost forgot about Ghostshade!" And with that, the tom ran off, looking scared for his life. _What's got him so worked up?_ Emberbone wondered.

A huge yawn interrupted his thoughts, his jaw spreading wide to reveal white ivory teeth. He curled up, really not caring that some cats were giving him strange looks. So what if he wasn't in the Warriors' Den? His eyes drifted shut, and he slipped into sleep.

He felt a pair of eyes burning into his pelt once more, and didn't bother with retaliation. Emberbone's eyes slowly opened, to a white face with silver eyes. Specklepaw.

"You've have got to stop doing that, Specklepaw." He yawned, pulling his head away from the apprentice, deciding against using what Sandstep had told him.

"Sorry." She cheerily chirped, pulling away. "Just wondering why you didn't sleep in the Warriors' Den."

"Because I decided not to." He replied vaguely. Emberbone got up, stretched, and trotted into the clearing, seeming chipper for one up so early. Rivermist was also up, but she didn't seem too keen on it.

"Morning." Emberbone greeted, still sounding chipper.

"Your happy glow is blinding. How could you be in such a good mood at this hour?!" She growled, snapping off a piece of her vole viciously.

"I'll just leave you alone now, Miss Moody." He replied, taking a cautious step back. When Rivermist didn't reply, he picked a thin chaffinch from the pile and proceeded to munch on it, avoiding the feathers. Emberbone licked his muzzle, surprisingly full at the tiny meal. He groomed a paw, flattening any stray hairs, then wandered over to the place where he slept to groom. Once again, he got a surprise.

Specklepaw was over where he had been sleeping, searching for... something. With a triumphant purr, she picked up something that he couldn't see and returned to the Apprentices' Den, glowing. After staring at where she left bewilderedly for a few more seconds, he continued to his sleeping place, still wondering what she had found so interesting. Emberbone shrugged to himself, then resumed his grooming, which wasn't really needed. He hadn't shifted during his sleep. The gold tabby tom from yesterday, presumably Specklepaw's mentor, appeared from the Warriors' Den. Emberbone decided to make nice with the scary warrior.

He padded towards the warrior, calmly walking beside him.

"Hello, I'm Emberbone. What's your name?" Emberbone asked, his ears flicking. The cat gave him a disdainful look, like he was less than an insect to him.

"Goldstripe. If that's all you wanted, go... I don't know, just go somewhere else." He said loftily, picking up the pace to escape Emberbone's presence.

"He's nice..." Emberbone muttered, turning around and heading back to the corner of the camp. From there, he sat like a statue, unmoving, seemingly not breathing. He caught cats looking at him funny, but nothing out of the ordinary as he waited for Rivermist's mood to improve.

It was half-way to sun-high before her mood had improved any.

"Emberbone! What're you doing over there?" She called.

"Waiting for you to get over morning." He replied, getting up. His muscles protested against the movement, as they had stiffened during his waiting period.

"Sorry about that. I'm not a morning cat." She apologized, dipping her head.

"It's fine, the best cats usually aren't." Her face turned a light pink at his compliment, but she didn't deny it, nor say anything about it.

"I guess I'll give you your tour then." She said, smoothly changing the subject.

"Yep. Lead the way."

And they were off. She started by showing him the Fourtrees, then the borders (as if he didn't know them already), a suspicious clearing that wasn't used for training or hunting, the Training Hollow, and a few other notable places. They passed by the river, and he stopped, scenting the air. Mouse.

"Hush!" Emberbone hissed, dropping into a crouch. Rivermist stopped talking as he crept forward, towards a sweet-smelling bush that leaned over the water. The mouse sat in the bush, taunting him. The kicker? It was the same mouse from two days ago. _He's still alive? Not for long..._

Emberbone's tail flicked in the afternoon light, his attention focused entirely on the meaty mouse in front of him. Its nose twitched as it ate the seed, attempting to keep a watch out for predators as it stuffed its adorable, edible, face.

_You're all mine, little mousy..._ He took a step forward. The mouse stiffened. Relaxed. Take another step. Stiffen. Relax. Another step. Relax. Pounce!

He landed squarely on his prey, swallowing the few sweet-smelling leaves that got into his mouth, about to deliver the death-blow, when...

"FOX!" Rivermist screeched, causing Emberbone to jump. The little mousey bugger was dead, so he had evened the score with that delicious demon, but, when he jumped, his footing slipped.

And he toppled

into

the

river.

Emberbone quickly surfaced, glaring crossly at Rivermist, who was, in turn, staring, terrified, at a fox. A familiar one.

"_Dang it, Bendiks! You really shouldn't scare cats like that! Someone might get hurt._" Emberbone scolded, slipping into fox automatically. His adoptive brother flicked an ear.

"_I was bored!_" Bendiks whined, his ears pinning against his head as he sat down.

"_Aren't you supposed to be the mature one?_" He replied, still cross, as he climbed out of the river, sopping wet. Bendiks had no answer to that, so he left, exiting ThunderClan territory. "The little whiner. All bark and no bite." Rivermist was practically foaming at the mouth, she was so scared.

"Let's get you back to the camp..." Emberbone murmured, giving her a gentle nudge. She dumbly followed Emberbone, unable to reply in her condition. When they arrived at camp, Yarrowheart raced towards her, concerned.

"Let's get you to the Medicine Den, dear." Yarrowheart whispered soothingly to Rivermist, who had started stammering the word 'fox', over and over. Emberbone decided to follow, to tell Yarrowheart what had happened. He was interrupted by a grey cat with black, tiger-like stripes.

"You're needed on a patrol." He growled, suspicion dancing in his green eyes.

"Sir, if you suspect that I hurt Rivermist in any way, you're wasting our time." Emberbone said flatly, his tail swishing in an annoyed way. "I didn't do anything to her."

The grey tiger-cat blinked, surprised, but stepped aside, still looking at him suspiciously. Emberbone continued walking, waiting for the cat to say something else, but he didn't. Emberbone poked his head into the Medicine Den, one paw roughly scratching the other.

"Hello?" He asked, ears perked.

"Come in." Yarrowheart's voice replied. Emberbone stepped in, standing awkwardly while still furiously scratching his paw. "Oh, you must be the tom that Rivermist was showing around. Could you tell me what happened, precisely?"

"That makes sense. She has a terrible fear of foxes." Yarrowheart explained, looking down at a sleeping Rivermist. "But now I'm out of poppy seeds. Emberbone, would you mind coming with me to gather some herbs?"

"Not a problem." He replied, stepping aside so Yarrowheart could leave. He followed Yarrowheart into the wood, curious to know where they grew, or gathered, their herbs.

"We're going to get watermint, poppy seeds, and daisy leaves." Yarrowheart listed the herbs softly, almost like she was talking to herself.

They passed by the sweet-smelling bush again, so, once more, Emberbone paused, checking for the mouse. It was still there. He got a closer look at the funny little bush as well. It had broad, dark green leaves with odd purple veins.

"Yarrowheart, do you know what kind of bush this is?" Emberbone asked, speaking through the mouse's fur. She looked at the purple-veined bush, her brow furrowing as she delved through generations of knowledge.

"No. I've never seen it before. Why?"

"I may have swallowed a few of the leaves." He replied, tail-tip flicking. Her whiskers twitched in amusement.

"When you got the mouse, I assume? I wouldn't be too worried about it." She assured him. "They're not dangerous." He had a feeling that she was hiding something, but let the subject drop as they finished gathering herbs.


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN: Uh... Hi... Ehehe... *dodges shoe***_

_**Okay, I know that some of you are a little upset over T.O.T.F. being cut, and I've been doing some thinking, so... Yeah. Here's another chapter for all you who are still waiting for this... Don't kill me...**_

Chapter 3

A Dream?

Emberbone yawned. It had been a busy day. Dawn patrol on the Shadowclan border, a fight (the Shadowclan cats had crossed the border), two hunting patrols, another border patrol, helping Yarrowheart collect herbs, and yet another hunting patrol.

It was sundown, and he was eager to curl up in his 'corner' and get some sleep.

"Emberbone!"

Said cat's ears twitched. Goldstripe.

"You've got another hunting patrol today." The golden tabby growled. "Take whoever you want to."

Biting back a sarcastic comment, Emberbone redirected himself to the Warrior's Den. With any luck, someone who didn't get on his nerves would be willing to go hunting.

But that would have been too easy, now wouldn't it?

...

Emberbone's tail was lashing in annoyance. Not only were Badgerfur, Sandstep, and Rivermist busy, but most of the other warriors were getting ready for the supposed war that was coming up. The only other cat that wasn't doing anything, and that was somewhat willing to go hunting was Grasstail.

And the cat couldn't hunt worth a blade of dead grass.

Not only had Grasstail managed to scare off a half-dead sparrow, but she managed to ruin each and every one of Emberbone's attempts to catch something that actually had meat on it.

Grass tail began to from a stammering apology, but Emberbone cut her off.

"We should split up. I'll be over by the old oak tree." Without waiting for a reply, Emberbone bounded into the dark woods.

_Much better._ He thought, opening his jaw slightly to catch scents better. He could smell a mouse and two voles.

He sank into a hunting crouch and began to move stealthily forwards. He could just make out the small body of the mouse as it scratched the ground for seeds.

Two more careful steps forward, and the mouse was in pouncing range.

Emberbone's tail twitched with impatience as the mouse stupidly moved a tiny bit closer in it's search for food.

Then a little bit closer.

And he pounced. His right paw broke the rodent's neck, and that was that.

Satisfied with his catch, and unwilling to stay out in the cold leaf-fall night any longer, he picked up the prey and went to find Grasstail.

This hunting trip was over.

...

Without much ceremony, Emberbone dropped the mouse into the fresh-kill pile and turned to head to his personal den. Well, it wasn't really a den so much as a space between the medicine cat den and the wall that provided shelter from the wind and most of the rain.

He slept there because it was better than being crammed into a tiny space packed with other beings, unable to see the sky, or to escape or-

Emberbone took a deep breath. _I'm not in a small space. I can see the sky, I can get out quickly, I am fine._

_**Claustrophobic much?**_

_Blackheart... Long time no hear._

_**Same could be said for you. You never talk to me anymore.**_

_I never talked to you at all._

_**True. Hey, this is out of the blue, but have you had any new nightmares?**_

_Aside from the one where everyone I care about has their heads ripped off and their innards eaten? Yes._

_**Care to tell?**_

_No._

_**I'll find it out anyways, so you might as well come clean.**_

_I highly doubt you'll enter my nightmares, 'friend'._

_**Your memories, on the other paw... Those are free game.**_

_Oi! Don't go screwing around with my head!_

With a huff, Blackheart fell silent. Emberbone curled up in his nest and fell asleep.

_Darkness. Everything was dark._

_No. Not completely dark. He could still see._

_But... It was strange. The things he could see were warped._

_They were twisted, broken... Like he was looking at the world through broken glass._

_Something caught his attention. A light?_

_It seemed safe to follow it._

_So he did._

_The closer he got, the better his vision became. Like a shattered red and orange and brown picture became the forest in leaf-fall._

_He stopped to look more closely at the picture._

_It was moving._

_He took a step closer, and watched what was happening._

_He saw Grasstail, Rednose, and Molepelt, along with cats that he didn't recognize. They were probably from another clan._

_He couldn't hear what was being said, so he leaned a little closer._

_He caught bits and snippets of conversation._

_"Dangerous..."_

_"...fine..."_

_"There's no harm..."_

_He couldn't make out what the conversation was about from what he could hear, so he leaned a little closer._

_He heard a chime that could be called a warning, and stopped himself from going any further._

_He still couldn't understand anything, so he simply gave up and resumed following the light._

_The light stopped suddenly and disappeared._

_He was sunk into the darkness again._

_**AN: Heh... Wonder what they were doing. Not that I know or anything.**_

_**These things just write themselves sometimes, ya know?**_

_**Anyway... Please review.**_

_**Thank you... And I'll see you on the flipside... :3**_


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